The folks who make up The Vampire Diaries’ fan community are a rabid bunch: They’re even nominated for their own People’s Choice Award. “Our fans are the most extraordinary group,” says exec producer Julie Plec, “and they are very vocal.” There should be plenty of chatter now that Elena (Nina Dobrev) has officially hooked up with bad boy Damon (Ian Somerhalder), making Team Delena rapturous. And those Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Elena devotees? Not so much. “I will probably have to hide for a while!” jokes Plec.

That’s advice Damon might want to take once his brother Stefan finds out about the tryst. (“He’ll be in for a shock,” says Plec.) But first, we’ll let Somerhalder revel in his character’s juicy new story line.

TV Guide Magazine: How did it feel to finally have “hot vampire sex,” as Nina called it, with Elena in the November 29 episode?

Somerhalder: The fans — and I — have been begging for that for a long time. It’s payoff for them, but there are a lot of people out there, particularly dudes, who think Elena would be much better off if she were rid of both [Salvatore brothers].

E!Online chatted with Ian Somerhalder about how he could come up with a plan to make his bloodsucking Vampire Diaries character Damon earth-friendly. Read the entire interview here.

Somerhalder wants to trade in Damon’s 1967 Camaro for a luxury hybrid—a $100,000 Fisker Karma to be exact.

“The Camaro is a cool car, but you stand behind the exhaust too long and you get sick,” Somerhalder tells me exclusively. “Damon has a lot of means to get the car. It looks like a Camaro, but it’s bigger and more beautiful and it’s completely green. It’s electric for the first 50 miles! You’ll have to fill your tank like two times a year!”

Damon’s reasons to go green are quite obvious, Somerhalder insists. “You have this guy who’s lived almost two centuries,” he said. “And he realizes, I’m stuck here for the next millennium. I’ve watched the degradation of our earth and our planet, watched the population grow. I have to be around for the next thousand years, I might as well take care of the place. Plus, this car is as sexy as hell.”